Thousands of free lunchboxes for low decile new entrants

3 April 2019 – As part of a new nationwide
initiative, Sistema Plastics is giving over 8,000 new
entrants at more than 250 low decile schools a lunchbox and
drink bottle to help combat the high number of students
going without lunch.

The Sistema School Starter Programme
also aims to encourage healthy, waste-free lunches, a
standard already implemented at many schools across the
country.

Drew Muirhead, Sistema Plastics CEO, says
starting school for the first time can be an exciting but
challenging time for children and their
families.

“Statistics tell us one in four Kiwi kids are
living in poverty and thousands of our most vulnerable are
being sent to school without lunch every day. We want the
Sistema School Starter Programme to have a positive impact
by encouraging kids to eat healthy lunches.

“Sistema
comes from humble beginnings in small town NZ and has grown
into the global business we are today. We have a passion for
driving the future of NZ and an important part of that is
making sure the next generation is equipped with the basics
to go on to succeed in life,” he says.

Catriona
Chrystall, Principal at Ōtorohanga Primary School, says the
programme will help take the pressure off many families
across New Zealand.

“The majority of our tamariki come
from a low socio-economic background. Providing these
students with something awesome of their own, not only takes
some pressure off their whanau but it also gives the
tamariki something new and exciting to start their schooling
journey with,” she says.

Karla Mitchell, Principal at
Wellington Seventh-day Adventist School, says the cost of
sending kids to school is rising and some parents are
struggling.

“We have many families at our school here in
Porirua who struggle to provide all the school supplies
their children need. Lunchboxes are often substituted for
plastic bags and sometimes nothing at all!

“It will be a
lovely surprise for all of our new entrants, and we hope it
helps spark a long-term approach to healthy eating, which is
a priority at our school,” she says.

The Sistema School
Starter Programme has committed to giving a free Sistema
Lunch Cube Max lunch box, yoghurt pot, and drink bottle to
more than 8,000 new entrant students at decile one and two
schools across the country to date.

The lunch box has been
specially designed with multiple compartments to keep
ingredients separate, eliminating the need for disposable
packaging or plastic wrap.

Decile one and two schools who
would like to know more about the Sistema School Starter
Programme can get in touch with the team via schoolstarter@sistemaplastics.com

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